Talbott Teas is pretty well known now for their involvement with Oprah Winfrey’s television variety show and her magazine “O.” They’re also involved with Donald Trump’s tea line which continues to gain popularity. Still their relative public notoriety hasn’t translated into wider industry acknowledgement. Unfortunately.

The loose leaves for this Darjeeling tea are a wonderful mix of golden tips, light and dark brown with occasional stems in. The leaves are lightly twisted and loosely packed. The liquor appears a honeyed brown once brewed.

The dry leaf aroma is light and leafy with hints of honeysuckle and stone fruits such as apricot or nectarine. Once brewed the aroma remains light and inviting, but turns slightly sweeter with notes honey.

On the palate this Makaibari Darjeeling plays with light astringency. It doesn’t dry the entire palate, just the tip of the tongue. There’s minimal pucker in the finish as well. I did note some sweetness during the sip and a bit of vegetal undertone as well.

Makaibari Darjeeling from Hampstead Tea

This Darjeeling is not a particularly strong tea. Those looking for something with a kick won’t find it here. But those looking for a distraction from your everyday black teas will find something wonderful and nuanced in this package. I’ve had better Darjeelings and I’ve had worse. Your palate is your own. I encourage you to find your sweet spot.

Fans of  other Darjeelings, himalayan teas teas and Chinese Ching Ming teas and keemun black teas may enjoy this blend.

This is the fifth and final entry in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Organic Mango Pu-erh, the Organic Jasmine Pu-erh the Organic Mint Pu-erh and the Organic Earl Grey Pu-erh I reviewed in the past few days, this iced Organic Classic Pu-erh is a continuation in the impressive collection Numi seems to be putting together with these iced pu-erh teas. And that’s no joke at this point. So far, four bottled teas, and four winners by my taste.

Numi Organic Classic Pu-erh

The liquor appears an almost opaque amber-black, but it’s difficult to tell through the bottle the color is so dark.

As with most iced teas the aroma on this one is pretty weak. You’ve got to be right up on it to smell it. The limitation here appears to be physics. Aroma just doesn’t carry as well in a cold climate.

The earthy textures common to pu’erh teas come out here. There’s some gritty earthen natural flavors playing on the palate. Some hints at honey and chocolate in the body.

This tea has some medium astringency in the tail and does cause some light dryness of the palate. This particular tea is not as subtle as the rest.

Fans of Pu-erh or CTC style (fine grain) black teas might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.

This is the fourth in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Organic Mango Pu-erh, the Organic Jasmine Pu-erh and the Organic Mint Pu-erh I reviewed in the past few days, this iced Organic Earl Grey Pu-erh is a continuation in the impressive collection Numi seems to be putting together with these iced pu-erh teas. And that’s no joke at this point. So far, four bottled teas, and four winners by my taste.

Numi Organic Earl Grey Pu-erh

The cloudy liquor is definitely reassuring in the bottle. It’s a very deep copper bronze with just a bit of sedimentation. As mentioned in prior reviews, this should be expected with natural or organic bottled teas. Pretty much all teas of this nature suggest shaking the bottle profusely before drinking.

This particular iced pu-erh stands above the others Numi provided me. As soon as I opened the bottle the aroma was clearly discernible. It was actually so pleasing I just let it sit for a few moments to soak it in before drinking.

The liquor of this tea is very smooth. I’d actually put it’s texture along the lines of a milk tea. Creamy and rich. The flavor is full of bergamot (the orangish fruit which gives Earl Grey its flavor.) I did note some grittiness from the pu-erh, but not as much as I’d expected.  The pu-erh seems overpowered by the oil of bergamot. This is the only reason I didn’t give the flavor a 4 out of 5.

This tea has some light astringency in the tail, however, due to the creamy texture it doesn’t seem to dry the palate, just the tip of the tongue.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral or milk teas might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.

This is the third in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Organic Mango Pu-erh and the Organic Jasmine Pu-erh I reviewed over the weekend, this iced Organic Mint Pu-erh is a continuation in the impressive collection Numi seems to be putting together with these iced pu-erh teas.

Numi Organic Mint Pu-erh

The cloudy liquor is reassuring in the bottle. It’s a deep copper bronze with notable sedimentation. As mentioned in prior reviews, this should be expected with natural or organic bottled teas. Almost all teas of this nature suggest shaking the bottle profusely before drinking.

While most iced teas aren’t very aromatic, mint has a way of making its presence known. As soon as I opened the bottle I could smell the mint. However, as though it had been waiting to escape, the aroma dissipated quickly. After that the bottle needed to be very close to my nose for me to smell anything here.

On the palate this tea is clearly mint. More spearmint than peppermint though, which was refreshing. I was expecting more earthy tones from the pu-erh which I didn’t find. No gritty textures or mossy aftertaste either. The flavor sits nice and light on the palate. While some minty-ness does continue through the finish, there’s not so much to be overwhelming.

This tea has little to no astringency. It doesn’t dry the tongue or mouth and actually seems to whet the palate instead.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral or mint teas might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.

This is the second in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Mango Pu-erh I reviewed the other day, this iced Jasmine Pu-erh is equally impressive. Using full organic jasmine flower petals when brewing this tea makes this one of the more well rounded jasmines out there, let alone one which is iced.

The liquor is slightly cloudy in the bottle. This is the mark of a good natural tea and indicates the use of actual ingredients and not flavorings or extracts. The coloring for this tea appears a milky golden yellow.

Iced teas don’t have the same aromatic properties as hot teas. The cool liquid doesn’t effuse the scents we expect nearly as strong. The result? You have to be right next to the bottle to smell the jasmine aroma and its floral tones.

I’ve had some iced Jasmine teas which fall flat, and I’ve had some which are remarkably refreshing. This Jasmine Pu-erh bests all of those for me. Jasmine seems to provide a typically tart or puckery finish when iced. It seems softened by either the small 10g sample of sugar in the bottle or by the smoothness of the green pu-erh used to brew this tea. On the palate the jasmine plays nicely with a hint of something lightly fruity in the finish.

Numi Jasmine Pu-erh

This tea isn’t very astringent. Unlike some ices teas it doesn’t dry the palate or lack nuance. Pu’erh itself is notably smooth when high quality, and this seems to translate well when iced.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral teas and Jasmine teas in particular might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.